Starfield is the first new IP from Bethesda Softworks in roughly 25 years, meaning this title perhaps already has more pressure than The Elder Scrolls or Fallout, because new IPs are always a risk, even for the biggest developers. During a recent interview, Todd Howard discussed how the Microsoft acquisition has benefited Starfield‘s development, as Bethesda has worked with some of the top engineers at Xbox on the title, but also the added pressure of trying to sell consoles.
Indeed, while hardware specs are an obvious benefit of any console, it often comes down to exclusives when choosing between a PS5 & Xbox Series X. Throughout the PS4 gen & even so far this gen, Sony has dominated the exclusive market with games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War Ragnarok, & so on, while Microsoft has largely played catch up by announcing acquisitions. Microsoft is hopefully entering the stage where its in-development exclusives start coming out, & that applies to Starfield too, adding newfound pressure to Bethesda.
As noted by Howard during a recent Lex Fridman podcast, Bethesda has always had some exclusivity deals with Xbox as far back as Morrowind, but it has never been responsible, even partially, for the success of the platform. The Elder Scrolls & Fallout are beloved franchises that had major success regardless of platform, but now that it’s Microsoft-owned, helping sell consoles is a newfound responsibility. Transcribed by VGC, Howard states, “We’ve had a lot of success with the games that you talked about but we’ve never been kind of the platform seller, you know ‘the game’ for a platform for a period of time, & so, there is a lot of pressure, there’s a lot of responsibility there to make sure we deliver for everybody.”
Being a major acquisition for a gaming powerhouse like Microsoft comes with said pressure, which is to be expected, but it’s also “awesome” from Howard’s perspective. Working closer than ever with Xbox allows Bethesda to focus on Starfield‘s development, while having extra help & resources from the company. With this added help, Bethesda intends to make Starfield look “incredible” on the Xbox Series X/S.
It’s also partially the reason for Starfield‘s delay. Howard & just about everyone at Microsoft & Bethesda has called it the right move, even if it’s regrettable. It leaves a Enormous hole in Microsoft’s console-exclusive games for 2022, but Xbox & Bethesda want to deliver something remarkable. It shows an emphasis on quality over petty console wars.
Starfield releases sometime in 2023 for PC & Xbox Series X.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast (via VGC)
